


Building Blocks

by Thunderscourge



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:14:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28488888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunderscourge/pseuds/Thunderscourge
Summary: Bertolt, Reiner, and Annie were sent to Paradis Island as children to infiltrate and wipe out the 'devils' which inhabit it, but what consequences will living alongside them have upon the Warrior trio? Day by day, brick by brick, the propaganda begins to fray and they are forced to reconcile their lives as Warriors and Soldiers. A look at the years leading up to the series which shaped Bertolt, Reiner, and Annie into who they are both in Marley and in their time on Paradis.
Relationships: Bertolt Hoover/Annie Leonhart, Hitch Dreyse/Marlo Sand | Marlowe Freudenberg, Marco Bott/Mina Carolina, Mikasa Ackerman/Eren Yeager, Reiner Braun/Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	Building Blocks

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

** Prologue **

_“I’ll always be on your side.”_

_“It’s not fair that you always prioritize me!”_

_“What are you doing!? Say it’s a joke, please!”_

_“There’s no shame in caring about your life, Bertolt. We all do.”_

_**“Annie! Reiner!”** _

...

...

When Bertolt woke it felt like he had escaped from some unending nightmare, his eyes taking time to adjust to his surroundings as his senses slowly came back to him. 

Nightmares were common, but they were almost always the same few again and again, and Bertolt was cursed to sleep through them despite the grief and terror they brought. Waking from something which felt new, yet he could not recall now that his eyes opened, left him uneasy...a feeling which only increased when he realized the face looming above him.

Bertolt did his best to hide his surprise upon seeing Annie leaning over him, her head so close to his he could smell the chemicals infused in her hair by whatever she used to wash it. It looked as if she had been studying him by her apathetic gaze, but where he lay in bed left little space for someone of her small stature to inspect him without leaning well over his contorted form.

“Annie...hey..." 

His awakening seemed to satiate Annie's curiosity, as she stood up straight and got straight to the point about what she was there for.

"It's time to get going."

Bertolt tried not to let his embarrassment show as he realized he likely had held up his two friends in leaving, so enraptured had he been by his nightmares...or whatever they truly were. One moment he had felt abject horror, yet other times it was closer to a deep-seated anger or frustration...and while he could not remember why at one point he had felt a certain soft, tender emotion that stood out from all the rest.

In the end it was just another night of restless sleep, but Bertolt still could help the feeling that there was some significance to it that was lost upon him now that he was awake. Perhaps like the others this dream would return to him, if but for a fleeting moment. 

“Thanks…” was the only response to Annie which Bertolt could murmur as he pulled himself upright, having twisted in his sleep such that one leg was up against the wall as the foot lay upon part of the bed's frame, while his other was bent and off in the other direction perpendicular to his body. Annie was already headed to the door, already dressed for the day and no longer needing to stir Bertolt from his slumber.

Before departing however Annie did glance back at him, her impassive face betraying no emotion as she seemed to mull something over before finally coming out and saying what was on her mind. 

"You may want to clean your face. You look like you were crying in your sleep.”

Bertolt brought a hand up to his face, only to find it dry upon that cheek, “Huh?”

By the time he checked the other side Annie was already gone, though he discovered that she was right: beneath his right eye were still wet tears he had not noticed, and from the feel of the surrounding cheek there were many dried ones to join them.

Uncertain what to make of them, Bertolt pushed it aside for the time being so he could focus on getting ready. He had waited two years for this day, and the time finally come to enlist. Gone were the days of working in the fields just to scrape by...it was not the first time he enlisted after all.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_"Who said you could walk!? Run you filthy swine! I guess you don't want to be honorary Marleyans after all!"_

_Ahead of Bertolt others were being chastised by their drill instructor for their 'slow' pace even though they all had been running for what felt like hours at this point while carrying their combat gear. The displeasure of those ahead of him spurred Bertolt to try his best to keep on running, but he had never gone through endurance training before and it was all he could do to not simply collapse where he stood._

_“What’s a tall devil like you doing at the back!? What use are those legs of yours if you can’t keep up with others of your disgusting kind!”_

_His lagging pace was noticed in short order and suddenly the full attention of the drill sergeant was upon Bertolt, who could only limp along as he tried to stammer out an apology to the man now riding beside him upon a horse._

_“S-s-s-orr…”_

_What hit Bertolt and sent him falling into the mud below was a mystery given how sudden it was and the fact his eyes had been cast downwards already, but it was obvious that his instructor had decided to 'encourage' him. While another trainee may have gotten infuriated by the strike, Bertolt instead felt shame over being unable to keep up with his fellow trainees. He had to do better if he was going to become a Warrior, but as things stood he simply did not have the endurance of the others and it was holding him back._

_“Did I ask you for an apology!? Keep running you worthless animal or you won’t live long enough to be truly sorry for your sins! You devils brought this upon yourself, remember that!”_

_Eldians, the sons and daughters of the wicked monsters known as Titans who once oppressed mankind...or so he was told. Bertolt's father had never discussed the subject at home, but his schoolteachers had at length. The only way out of their internment camp was to become a Warrior, and with his medical condition Bertolt's father would die if he remained there: for that reason Bertolt picked himself back up even through his tears as the rain beat down upon his face._

_It hurt, but his father was suffering so much more that Bertolt had no choice but to keep moving forward for the sake of the man who had given everything for him._

_“If you’re going to apologize, apologize to everyone who has ever lived that a beast like you dares to breathe the same air as they have!”_

_“I…”_

_“Shut your mouth Hellspawn or I’ll kill you right here and now! Run as if your life depends on it!”_

_The instructor rode off to intimidate the other Warrior candidates into performing better, leaving Bertolt to trod along as fast as his exhausted body could manage. Try as he might he could only get a little further before his body collapsed down once again, his face resting halfway in a puddle formed from another trainee's boot and the downpour that was beating down on them all._

_Once again he struggled to rise back up, but he lacked the strength to do so this time. Instead he fought against the ground and gravity itself to no avail, slipping in the mud as he did his best to rise from it._

_“You should just quit if you’re not serious about becoming a Warrior.”_

_Bertolt could twist his head just enough to look up at someone else standing beside him, it being someone he had noticed at the very head of the pack at the beginning of the drill. She was short, but apparently fast enough to have entirely lapped him now._

_Her words could be seen as cruel, but Bertolt sensed that she was showing empathy in her own way: she had taken the time to stop next to him even though it meant others could begin catching up to her, lessening her lead and overall assessment from Marley for the day's activities._

_A second wind began to hit Bertolt as he climbed up to his hands and knees, though he was still panting so heavily that he could barely stammer out a response to her._

_“I have to keep going…my father…he nee…he needs…”_

_To his surprise rather than just ignoring him and continuing along, as he expected by the girl's icy glare, she instead offered him a hand up. Bertolt stared at her for a moment as for the first time since he joined the Warrior program someone actually **helped** him, for until now the other trainees were cutthroat about ensuring their own success and the instructors were ruthless to them all despite their charges only being around ten or eleven years of age._

_“T-thank you…”_

_The words escaped Bertolt's lips before he even realized he was speaking, though he wasn't quite sure if the girl had heard him: she had already begun to run again until after a few paces she realized he was still standing where she had lifted him up._

_“What are you waiting for? Let’s go.”_

_“R…right…”_

_If not for Annie's unexpected aid he would have been left behind, and so despite how much it pained him Bertolt did his best to keep pace with her for the rest of the day's training. That night he would be diagnosed with a cold due to others mentioning how flushed he had been since his 'trip' in the rain, but little did he realize at the time that he had just been blushing as he looked in awe at the girl who showed him kindness when she never had to._

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Hurry up Bertolt, it’s time for us to go! 

Reiner's urging snapped Bertolt back to the present to finish his preparations quickly, cleaning his face and finishing getting dressed as rapidly as he could pull his clean shirt over his gangly form.

While preparing himself for the day ahead of him Bertolt could not help but reflect on why he was still so nervous...just what was he worried about if not serving as a soldier? Was it fighting Titans as they would one day have to? Perhaps, though if all went according to plan that wouldn't happen...he would be in the Military Police far from all the monsters lurking beyond the walls they slept within. 

No answers lay in wait for him by the time he finished, and so he quelled the doubts as he had so many times before. Everything would be alright in the end, he just had to keep following Reiner, then they would be able to return home...to escape from this foreign land they had been trapped in for two years now.

When he walked out of the room he shared with Reiner he was met only by the sight of the blonde man, the soft blonde hair of Annie nowhere to be seen despite her presence just minutes ago.

“Where’s Annie?”

Reiner grinned in some form of satisfaction as he shrugged nonchalantly, “Who knows? It’s not like she asks my permission to go off on her own, you know how she is.”

“Yeah…”

The tepid response given brought Reiner to realize that Bertolt was distracted by something, but what was the question which plagued him, “Hey, are you alright?”

Bertolt feigned a smile, not wanting to worry Reiner about the dreams...nightmares...whatever it was that haunted him until he suddenly awoke this morning, “I-it’s nothing. I’ll be fine.”

“You sure? Because if you don’t think you can do this…”

“I said I’ll be fine. The only road left to us is the one that leads to the end.”

The determination in Bertolt's voice pleased Reiner, who clapped Bertolt on the back jovially, “That’s right. We have to keep going if we are ever going to return home.”

Bertolt's smile grew more genuine, the facsimile aspect to it fading thanks to the warmth he felt whenever he was around Reiner. While Reiner had his flaws he had always been a constant source of support these past two years, and Bertolt would do whatever he could to help his friend in return.

“No more waiting around, let’s go. Today’s the day we become soldiers, and I don’t want to miss our window just because a certain someone needed their beauty rest!” Reiner joked as he moved to leave first.

Bertolt still was smiling as he followed Reiner's lead, just as he always did.

After all, it was only Reiner these past two years who was there to assuage Bertolt's fears and doubts. Only Reiner who told him that the destruction of Wall Maria with their Colossal and Armored Titan powers was a good thing, that it would help save the world some day even if thousands of seeming innocents died as a result. Only Reiner who would say they had no need to ask forgiveness, even if they truly deserved none.

Because in his heart Bertolt knew they were monsters rather than the heroes they had aspired to be, and if he didn't have someone to tell him otherwise then how could he live with himself?

**Author's Note:**

> _**A/N: The beginning of a new story idea I had. I hope you enjoyed and that you'll share your thoughts in the comments below!** _


End file.
